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Parisian Waffles

One of my most favorite actresses of all time is Lucille Ball. She seriously is the best comedian. That’s why when I saw The “I Love Lucy” Cookbook on the shelf at the Orem library, I had to pick it up. This book features recipes from 7 different episodes of ‘I Love Lucy’ and includes photos and snippets of comedy from each episode. It is fun just to peruse and laugh over the silly things that Lucy does in the show. The recipe today comes from the episode “Paris at Last.”

Parisian Waffles

1 stick (1/2 cup/120 g) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 eggs

3/4 to 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream

2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage

1 tablespoon honey

4 thick slices Canadian bacon (1/3 pound/150 g)

Melt the stick of butter in a small saucepan. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes, until butter becomes golden and a small amount of sediment is visible. Set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add 2 eggs to the well. Start to whisk slowly, working out toward the edges, to mix the dry ingredients with the eggs. When about half the flour has been mixed in, begin to add 3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk to the center while whisking. Add cream and blend mixture until flour is just incorporated. Add melted butter, orange zest, and sage. Whisk until blended. Make waffles according to instructions for your waffle iron. This batter makes 4 medium waffles. If batter is too thick, add up to 1/4 cup (60 ml) additional buttermilk. Melt honey and 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan and keep warm on the side. Place each cooked waffle on a plate. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, brown bacon over medium-high heat. Place one slice on each waffle. In the same sauté pan, fry the remaining 4 eggs in the grease left in the pan (add a little vegetable oil if needed to prevent sticking). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place 1 egg on each waffle on top of the bacon. Drizzle the waffles with the honey butter and serve immediately.

Note: To make a more elaborate version of this dish, use poached eggs instead of fried eggs. For a very rich variation, the poached eggs can be topped with a hollandaise sauce.

Makes 4 servings.

To start things off, let me just say that this was incredible! I had never had a savory waffle before and this was soooooo delicious! I served it for dinner and we all decided we could eat it every day. I made it as directed, using the additional 1/4 cup buttermilk as my batter was too thick for my waffle iron. Also, I did not have orange zest, but I did have lime zest so I substituted lime zest. I also cooked my eggs to over-easy and made a hollandaise sauce from a grocery store sauce packet mix. It was divine! I can’t wait to make it again.

Also, the book had some other recipes that I wanted to try as well – Mickey’s Spicy Latin Lemonade and Mrs. McGillicudy’s Rice and Red Bean Salad. It also had a recipe from my most favorite ‘I Love Lucy’ episode – Vitameatavegamin!!!!! I can’t believe anyone would ever want to taste that, but for the comedic aspect, it’s fun to see a recipe for it. If you’ve never seen the episode “Lucy Does a Commercial,” this is definitely one you need to see!